


Intertidal Zone (Four Swords Modern Merfolk AU)

by SDRseries



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Four Swords, M/M, Merpeople, Ocean, Romance, Sea, merfolk, mermaid, merman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6652375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDRseries/pseuds/SDRseries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ocean.  Blue's only sanctuary away from life.  <br/>Ever since his father disappeared after a sea expedition nine years ago, Blue, his two brothers, and his cousin have been getting by chaotically.  With no mother to guide them, family fights have ensued for as long as they can remember.  Blue distances himself away from everyone, spending each day by himself on his father's private beach, watching.  Waiting.  Just one glimpse to tell him that everything was going to be alright.</p><p>However, one fateful night, an unexpected turn of events pulls him out of the dark, led by someone who is unlike anyone Blue has ever met...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

_ _

 

_“Trust me, boys.  You’ll be fine without me.  It’ll only be for a month, I promise,” said a tall, burly man with shoulder-length brown hair that was swept back behind his ears.  He was standing on a wooden pier above the gently rocking sea, and next to him was a remarkable voyage of which he was about to board.  Gathered around his legs were three boys: two of eight and one of ten, each with fluffy golden hair and eyes as if the ocean itself was held within them._

_“Please let us go with you!” cried one of the twins, clutching onto his father’s sailor pants._

_“I’m sorry, Green, but it’s far too dangerous for you three.  Maybe when you’re older I’ll let you sail with me, okay?”_

_“Okay…” the three boys chorused._

_Their father knelt down to their level and gave a warm smile.  “Be good, alright?  Your Aunt Eleanor will be here soon to take care of you while I’m gone, and your cousin will be coming too.”  His smile faded and became stern.  He looked his eldest son directly in the eye and placed his large, coarse hands on the boy’s small shoulders.  “Blue, I’m counting on you to keep your brothers safe.  You know that they can’t swim yet, so don’t let them on the beach without you watching them.  Make sure you all get to bed on time and don’t cause arguments.”_

_“Yes sir,” Blue replied, mimicking his father’s expression._

_The warm smile returned to the sailor’s face.  “Good boy.  Well, I’ll be off now.  Remember, it’s just for a month!”_

_Before he could stand up to board his ship though, his sons tackled him to the ground in a father-son death-hug.  The four of them broke into hysterics, and it was several minutes before the man could actually remove himself from his sons’ grip.  Once on board, he stood on the starboard side and waved to his three boys who all happily waved back._

_“Do you really think he’ll come back?” the other twin, Vio, asked his older brother._

_“Of course he will.  He’ll be back in no time, just you wait,” Blue replied, watching as his father’s ship gradually grew smaller and smaller over the horizon.  “Just you wait…”_

_\---_

 

The foamy edge of the saltwater gently lapped over the teenager’s feet as he stood on the wet sand of his family’s private beach, staring off into the empty distance.  The fresh sea breeze flowed through his messy locks, making them flail wildly about his head.  His eyebrows were furrowed as he scanned the surface of the ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of anything that would subdue his constant indignation.  The sky overhead was cloudy and unhelpful to his mood, so he could only stand there in annoyance as his gaze found nothing to focus on.

He let out a huff and sighed.  _Where are you…?_ his thoughts asked.

“Oi!  Blue!” came the voice of one of his two younger brothers from behind him.

Blue let out an exasperated groan and turned around.  “What do you want, Green?”

“Aunt Eleanor says it’s getting late and it’s time to come inside,” Green explained, running up to stand beside his grumpy brother.

Blue only scoffed.  “I can’t believe her.  She treats us like we’re still fucking six years old!  Well, newsflash!  I don’t give a damn about what she wants me to do.”

“She wants you to stop moping and sulking about out here!  It’s all you ever do these days.  Listen, we don’t know if something came up and he had to leave for longer or-”

“Nine years, Green!”  Blue interrupted, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, his eyes practically burning with rage.   “It’s been _nine fucking years_!”  Even though his scowl didn’t cease one bit, small pools of water collected in the corners of his eyes and his voice wavered as he continued to speak.  “…He lied to us.  He isn’t coming back.”

“Then why do you still stand out here as if waiting for him to _magically_ show up again?”  Green’s arms waved about in the air to emphasise his sarcasm.

“So I don’t have to put up with the _bullshit_ that you three give me everyday!”

Green recoiled and stepped back a few, staring at his older brother who was seething with wrath.  A few seconds passed before he turned to go.  “Fine.  If you want to miss dinner, then go ahead.”  With that, Green trudged up the beach and headed for the path back to their house up the cliff.

Blue rolled his eyes and turned back to the ocean.  “What the-” he exclaimed, flinching at unexpectedly catching sight of a small, round object floating in the water quite a way out.  He swiftly turned to see if Green was seeing the same thing, but his brother was out of sight, and when Blue looked back, so was the object.  _Maybe Green’s right…  Maybe I_ am _spending too much time out here…_ he thought, placing a palm to his forehead.  Spending a last few seconds staring out at the water, he shook his head and headed for his house.

 

\---

 

Before he had left, Blue’s father was a renowned sailor and very close to being a millionaire.  When Blue and his brothers were still yet to be born, he’d bought a large yet cosy house that overlooked the private beach that came with it.  About three minutes away was the town and other residential houses, and since it was a small fishermen community, everyone knew everyone.

Blue’s house itself was two storeys high with an extra room a floor higher that served as an observatory to view the ocean.  The outside walls were painted a light shade of beige and the roof was a very dark grey.  It was incredibly modern for a beach house, complete with all its windows being totally black so that none could see in, and it was surrounded by beautiful tropical flora.

The first floor of the house was the typical rectangular shape, but as it moved into the second floor, the house almost completely rounded itself to form a semi-circle.  It may have sounded strange to some people, but it actually looked rather nice in Blue’s opinion, and it gave the added bonus of an entire wall of each bedroom being the window to look outside at the sea below.  The area beneath the rounded side was where the patio and pool were located, and it was a nice place to sit on sunny days.

The older blonde took a deep breath and opened the front door, ready to enter and face his two brothers and cousin once again.

All the flooring of the house – aside from the bathrooms which were tiled – were dark wooden planks of oak smoothed down to feel like silk underneath the feet.  The walls were painted white and fixed all throughout the ceiling were small round lights that made the place positively glow after sundown.  Upon entering, the first floor of the house opened up to one giant room that had the kitchen and living room in one.  The kitchen, with its smooth marble benches and shiny silver-coloured kitchenware, was directly ahead and to the right, and to the immediate right was the living room where their comfy couches and large flat screen TV resided.  To the left was the staircase that led up to the second floor where the bathrooms and bedrooms were, and thundering down the steps at that moment was Blue’s cousin, Shadow.

Blue was never close to Shadow and never would be.  Ever since the punk teenager moved in with them, he was nothing but trouble and pulled pranks on both Green and Blue whenever he got the chance, and it only got worse as they got older.  Just recently he’d done one of the classics on Blue: fill his hand with whipped cream while he was sleeping and tickle his face until it was covered in mushy layers of white.

Shadow was dressed in a white t-shirt with a black skull design and black jeans, and he came down the stairs with headphones atop his purple hair and over his pierced ears with the volume blaring out at an unhealthy level.  So much in fact that Blue could hear the rock song he was listening to as if it was being played on a normal CD player.

Wait.

Blue could have sworn Shadow’s hair was raven black the last time he saw his cousin.  Since when did he get it dyed, and why purple?

 _Ah, Vio,_ Blue thought.  Ever since Shadow found out that one of his twin cousins’ favourite colour was purple to match his name, he’d been buying all sorts of purple stuff.  Blue supposed that hair dye was in that list too.

He wasn’t sure why, but Shadow and Vio had always gotten along; they never, ever argued and they did practically everything together.  They were complete opposites to each other too – Shadow was rebellious, playful and into all that emo punk stuff, whilst Vio was intelligent, calm and a total bookworm.  Was it because they were the same age or something?

However, Vio and Shadow _did_ have at least something in common: the both of them pissed the absolute fuck out of Blue.  If it wasn’t Shadow bugging him with his dumb pranks, it was Vio taunting him with his snide and smartass remarks.

Speaking of, Vio soon followed suit behind Shadow, a rather thick novel in his hands.  He had on a purple flannel shirt and dark blue jeans.  Nothing special. 

The two made their way into the kitchen where Green emerged from.  He was holding a mixing bowl and was beating some eggs albeit a tad sloppy.

“Ah, finally decided to join the living, Blue?” he remarked.

“Keep that up and you’ll be dead meat for dinner,” Blue snapped back, making Vio and Shadow snicker.

“Now, now, boys.  I want to go at least one night without a fuss,” came the voice of their Aunt Eleanor. 

Another reason that Blue hated his aunt was the fact that she looked almost exactly like his mother: long and silky blonde hair with the most gorgeous light blue eyes.  He hated being reminded that no one would come close to the woman he’d known for only two years.

“Whatever,” the four teenagers chorused. 

“Holler when the food’s done.  I’m gonna take a shower,” Blue said, heading up the stairs.

“Don’t take too long!” Eleanor cried.

 

\---

 

Blue hovered his hand in the steadily heating up water, waiting for the right temperature.  In truth, he didn’t really need a shower aside from washing the salt out of his hair and the remaining sand off his feet.  He just really hated being around his family.

It wasn’t always rude remarks and a house full of hatred – Blue had done exactly what his father asked him to after the man left.  He kept his brothers safe and happy and acted like he was their father for the month. 

The blonde teenager removed his hand from the water, adjusted the tap, and stepped under the showerhead.

Alas, when the time finally came for their sailor dad to return, Blue would stand out on the pier practically every day waiting for him, but the days eventually stretched into weeks; weeks stretched into months; months stretched into years.  For nine whole years, Blue never missed a day.  It was routine for him now to get up in the morning and spend around seven hours on the beach, watching and waiting, even though he knew it was inevitable that his dad wouldn’t come back.  That was how the anger poured in like boiling water from a kettle.  His dad had promised he’d come back, and he didn’t.  He never would.

He reached down to the corner where his shampoo resided and pumped out a neat little dollop into the palm of his hand, soon proceeding to course it through his matted hair.

Blue had been around longer than his two twin brothers.  Granted, it was only a two-year gap, but he was the only one who had faint memories of his mother.  He remembered the way she used to sing to him at night and play with him on the beach whenever she could, even with her plump belly.

Then his brothers were born.

Blue had told himself over and over while growing up not to blame them, but he just couldn’t help himself!  They didn’t know the pain that they put him through!  He felt like the world had turned against him with only his father left, and the man had tried desperately to fill in as both parents.  Due to this, Blue had grown exceptionally close to him, and for his dad to leave him as well with his two brothers who’d killed his mother…!

Blue blinked several times at his left fist that had embedded itself within the wall of the bathroom.  White powder covered the back of his hand and several chips in the plaster had been knocked into the shower.  He slowly removed his hand and examined it; there was a decent-sized nick of blood showing on each knuckle. 

“Shit…” he muttered.  Just how hard did he punch the damn wall? 

He ran his bleeding appendage under the water to wash the blood and powder off, ignoring the slight sting that came with it.  He then stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and reached for the cabinet that held some medical supplies.  Aunt Eleanor was going to kill him for damaging the wall.

Once his injured hand was bandaged up, he wrapped the towel he’d used around his waist and opened the door – only to find Shadow standing directly outside with a smirk spread across his lips. 

“Let me guess: you punched a wall again?” he said, his eyes glancing down at the bandages for a brief moment.

Blue’s scowl only darkened.  “Now’s not the best time, so leave me the fuck alone and get out of my way before I flash you!”

Shadow held his hands up and stepped out of the way, a look of disgust replacing his trademark smirk.  “Dude.  Ew.”

“ _Thank_ you,” Blue finished, heading off to his room while Shadow entered the bathroom to explore the damage and most likely dob on him to Aunt Eleanor.

 

\---

 

Blue sat down at the dining table after getting a nice tongue lashing from his aunt.  Laid out on his plate was a serving of freshly-caught snapper with a lemon wedge to squeeze on and some salad.  He dug in immediately as did his family, and it was Shadow’s habit to let out a loud and rather uncomfortable moan whenever eating food that he liked.

“Mmm, your cooking is the _best_ , mom!” the purple-haired teenager complimented.

“Aww, thank you, dear,” Aunt Eleanor replied.

“Yeah, it really is,” Green added, unusually monotonous.

 _Mom’s cooking would’ve been better,_ Blue thought, frowning at Shadow.  He would never admit it, but he was jealous of his cousin.  Shadow still had someone to call ‘mom’, and Blue would never be able to taste his own mom’s cooking ever again.

Aunt Eleanor cleared her throat and continued speaking.  “So, boys, yesterday I received a call from your grandmother asking me to stay at hers and look after her while her caretaker is off doing other business for a week or so.  I’ll need to leave first thing tomorrow, so I’m trusting you four to be responsible while I’m gone.  Can you do that?”

“Will you actually be coming back?” Blue spat.

“Blue!” Vio hissed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just referring to the fact that the last time someone left us, they never fucking came back!”

Green dropped his fork and sank in his seat while Eleanor let out a gasp. 

“ _Language_ , young man!” his aunt cried.

“Ooh, does anyone have popcorn?” Shadow commented, earning a rough kick from Vio.  “Ow!”

“We’re well aware of that, Blue.  But please, for our sake, don’t start anything you’ll regret.  You too, Shadow,” Vio said, motioning to both troublesome boys.

“You know what?”  Blue stood up harshly, making his chair scrape on the wood behind him.  “Fuck you guys.  I’m done with this shit.”  Ignoring the shouts of protest from his aunt and Vio and leaving his half-eaten dinner behind, he stormed out of the room and through the front door.

Once outside, he glanced up at the moon which was almost at its full lunar cycle.  Even so, it provided more than enough light to make his way down to the beach.

Blue couldn’t believe his brothers.  How dare they not fucking care that their dad was gone!  Oh well.  At least he wouldn’t have to deal with Aunt Eleanor for a couple of weeks. 

The walk down the cliff was silent and peaceful, easing his rising temper almost immediately.  The light that shone down from the moon onto the earth was a sea in itself – a gorgeous, silver sea in a dark, cold and lonely world.  The air was always cool and refreshing and the breeze never ceased to be at its gentlest at night.

The closer Blue got to the bottom of the cliff, the more he could hear the ocean’s soothing evening waves calmly lapping at the shore.  He always preferred it when the sun was gone; the atmosphere was relaxing and there were no seagulls destroying the tranquilized silence with their irritating cries.

The nineteen year-old breathed a sigh of relief upon the nostalgic feeling of frigid sand worming its way through his toes.  He was on the beach at last, the place where he felt most at home.  He kicked up small grains of the off-white substance as he walked, heading over to where the large collection of rocks began off to the right.  Since the public weren’t allowed down here, many rare and interesting things were always ripe for the taking amongst the shoreline and rocks pools.  Blue and his brothers each had their own collection of stuff that had washed ashore in their rooms, Blue’s display being the largest of course.  Vio probably would have had the largest collection had he spent more time on the beach.

The teen blonde’s eyes trailed along the wet sand, keeping an eye out for anything else that might have washed up this evening.  When he couldn’t spot anything, he looked up to his destination over at the rocks and _definitely_ saw something new. 

Or, rather, some _one_.

The person looked to be another teenager, younger than Blue from what he could see.  They had short, fluffy blonde hair like Blue and his brothers, and their frame was thin but not skinny.  Blue would have thought it was a girl had it not been for the absence of a bikini top and two breasts, and so without an opportunity to flirt, he saw no reason to be nice.  The younger boy was preoccupied with the rock pools that he was standing in, so Blue could only see his upper torso.

“Hey!” Blue called out, walking towards him with an annoyed expression.  However, the boy didn’t seem to hear him.  “HEY!” Blue shouted, much louder and more threatening than before.  He now had the boy’s attention who looked at Blue as if he was a ghost.  “This is a private beach!  No public allowed, so get lost!”

The boy gave a small yelp and ran further down the rocks and out of Blue’s sight.  The older teenager darted forward and scrambled up the mass of grey, and even though he reached where the boy was in a matter of a few seconds, the trespasser was already long gone.  He had heard a loud splash moments before, so he could only assume that the younger male took a dive.

“Dammit,” Blue muttered under his breath.  That was the second person this year he’d had to shoo off.

“Blue?  I need to talk to you,” said a sudden voice behind him.

Blue practically jumped out of his skin as he turned around, but calmed down then immediately got angry upon the sight of Vio looking up at him from the sand below.  “And why the hell would you need to talk to me?” he spat, staying up on the rock he was standing on.  “Don’t think I’m gonna fall for another one of Shadow’s pranks that you helped him wi-”

“It’s about dad.”


	2. Part One

“About…dad?” Blue almost whispered.

“You know that I wouldn’t ever bring it up unless absolutely necessary.  Green and I loved him too, you know,” Vio replied matter-of-factly.

Blue took a deep breath and sighed, stepping down from atop the rocks.  “Fine.  What is it?”

“Alright, but before I tell you, I just want you to know that even though we enjoy pissing you off, we’re still your brothers and cousin.  We care about you, okay?  And besides, getting on each other’s nerves is what families do most of the time.”

Blue hesitated before replying.  “And this is relevant…why?”

Vio let out a breath.  “I have to admit that I’ve been lying to you this whole time.  You know how a few years ago I said that I found out our dad has been spotted around various places since he left?”

“Yeah.  That son of a bitch left us to go off and do his own thing!”

“I only told you and Green that to save your feelings.  I’ve already revealed the truth to Green which is why he was so quiet at dinner.”

Blue stood there as the colour drained from his face.  His dad wasn’t really…  Was he…?

“Blue, do you honestly think that a guy like our dad would just leave us to live his own life like that?  I’d spent ages researching to try and figure out why he hadn’t come back yet.”  Vio paused and closed his eyes to take another breath.  “About a week into his trip at sea, a wave crashed over his ship which severely damaged the hull and caused it to sink.  When divers found the wreck and looked over it, they found all the bodies of the drowned crew members…except our dad’s.”

“ _Except_ our dad’s?” Blue asked.

“When a person goes missing without a trace, they can’t be confirmed dead unless the body is found, at least until seven to ten years have passed.  So technically speaking, our dad is missing, not dead.”

Blue took a moment to drink the information in.  So there was a possibility that their dad was _alive_?!  “THEN WHY THE FUCK AREN’T WE OUT THERE LOOKING FOR HIM?!  WHY ARE YOU TELLING US THIS AFTER NINE GOD DAMN YEARS?!” he shouted.

Vio frantically waved his arms about.  “Shh!  Keep your voice down!  Look, if I’d have told you earlier, you would have done something stupid!  Besides, the reason why we _aren’t_ out there looking for him is because I can’t afford to hire a boat and a captain to take us!”

Blue studied Vio’s eyes carefully.  “…You have a plan B, don’t you?”

Vio nodded.  “You know how I’ve been studying in a marine biology course for several years now?”

“Wait, don’t tell me…”

“In a few weeks’ time, I’ll be able to join a few of my colleagues out on one of their boats for free.  I’ve already asked if you guys can come and they said yes, and what’s more, since I’m the newest member, they’re allowing us to go wherever _I_ want them to as long as I have a valid reason.  It’ll be the perfect opportunity to search for him.”

For the first time in ages, a smile made itself known on Blue’s face.  “Vio…  I don’t know what to say…”

“You deserve to have him back, Blue, especially if it’ll improve your temper, so if there’s the slightest chance of finding him, then we’ll take it.”

The older blonde didn’t even think as he enveloped his younger brother in a tight hug.  “Thank you so much…”

Vio awkwardly returned the gesture.  “Uh, no problem.  Come on, let’s head back.”

The two brothers released each other and began heavily trudging back up the sand.  As Vio took the first step on the cliff path, Blue hesitated and looked back at the gently rocking sea behind him.  No longer did he view it as the thing that stole his father from him, but finally as the world that the older man still remained in somewhere, hopefully alive.  The only doubt he held in his mind was the fact that it would be near impossible to locate his dad on a planet that was seventy percent ocean, and only so much as five of that percentage had been explored.  It could take years to find him, and that thought alone scared him – not only for the sake of his own father, but also for himself and his brothers.  It was lonely.

While his gaze flitted from wave to wave, it eventually settled on the figure of the boy he saw earlier.  With the moon’s rays shining directly on his face, Blue could see him clearly.  His now cold-looking eyes were fixed on the older teen as he floated there, almost as if daring Blue to pursue him while in the water.  He wore no expression of any kind nor did he make any form of movement, aside from the waves making him slowly bob up and down almost rhythmically.  This sudden transition freaked the ever-living daylights out of Blue, and he felt cold as he stared at him, unnerving shivers wracking through his entire body.  This _definitely_ wasn’t the same boy he tried to shoo off…  He wanted to get as far away from the boy’s gaze as possible, but at the same time, he was…drawn to it.  It was like looking at a rose – its inviting petals enticed all who gazed upon it, but its thorns told a different story, warding people off with their threatening aura. 

Suddenly, Vio’s impatient voice called out from above.  “Blue, you coming?” he asked, already quite a way ahead.

Blue snapped out of his frightening trance and glanced up at his brother.  “Uh, y-yeah, you go ahead.  I’ll catch up,” he replied.  Vio simply shrugged his shoulders as he walked off, leaving Blue to his own devices.

The older blonde looked back to the ocean, hoping that the boy was still there.  Despite the fear that enveloped Blue, he couldn’t help but be curious as well, the same way that a person would investigate a bump in the night.  The darkness was terrifying, but confirmation of what was in it was needed desperately.

The boy was indeed still there, still staring at him.  He was almost glad that Vio hadn’t seen him…or had he and just not cared?  Either way, Blue began to take tentative steps towards the foamy edge of the sea.  The boy continued to stay still, almost as if waiting for Blue. 

“Who are you?” the older teen called out, his feet hitting the icy chill of the water and making him flinch.

The boy did nothing but blink and tilt his head slightly.

“I said… WHO ARE YOU?!” Blue asked again, aggressively this time.  Hopefully his anger would help cover up his fear.

Blue watched in entrancement as the other male slowly turned to look at the horizon, then back at Blue.  The confused blonde raised an eyebrow at the boy in the water, mouthing a small “what”.

Then, in a matter of a second, the stranger dove beneath the surface and vanished.  Blue wasn’t sure if he’d been seeing things, but if he had blinked, he would have missed the shape of a finned tail disappearing with the boy.

 

\---

 

Blue’s tired eyes opened to the irritating light of day and the constant beeping of his alarm clock.  Reaching over, he silenced the disturbance and got up from the comfort of his bed to glance out the massive window of his bedroom.  It was slightly overcast and the sea was a little choppy, but other than that, it was just the start of another normal day.

Or, at least he hoped.

During the late hours of last night trying to get to sleep, his mind had been far too occupied by the boy.  Never in his life had he come across someone – or some _thing_ depending on if what he saw was real – so bizarre, creepy, and innocent-looking all at the same time before.  It plagued his thoughts like a computer virus, taking him over rapidly with no intention of leaving. 

The tired teenager caught a glimpse of himself in the glass, and even in his transparent reflection he could see clear bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep.  Groaning, he slapped a hand to his forehead and ran it groggily down his face.  He turned away from the window to change into fresh clothes: a plain light blue singlet and darker blue denim shorts.  He then picked up a brush from his bedside table and began running it through his matted hair, pulling at any and all knots in an attempt to remove them.  Once finished, he headed out the door and slumped down the stairs to get breakfast.

Upon going back inside the house last night, he was greeted by a yelling aunt and a grinning cousin giving a thumbs-up behind her.  Shadow approved of anything that Blue did as long as it provided entertainment for him, and this form of entertainment lasted for several minutes until Eleanor had almost yelled her throat sore.  After that Blue had called it a night and headed upstairs for bed, and that was pretty much it.  However, he had a feeling that the tension between his family was going to be slightly different for a few days.  It wasn’t often that he caused such a tantrum, even with that temper of his.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, the familiar scent of pancakes filled his nostrils and ushered him to follow it to the kitchen where he found Vio preparing them.  Standing behind his brother was Shadow, who had his arms slung around Vio’s neck and his chin resting on the purple clad teen’s shoulder.  The sight almost made Blue want to laugh, but at the same time, he had to admit that they looked kind of content, so he decided not to disturb them.  After all, he felt like he owed Vio for telling him the truth and having a boat ready to go search for their father.

Blue made his way over to where the kitchen bench was and pulled out a stool so he could sit down.  The scrape of the metal legs on the floor startled his cousin, causing the purplette to practically leap away from Vio and stare at Blue with a panicked expression.  Vio, on the other hand, simply glanced in his brother’s direction and muttered a “good morning” before turning back to his pancakes.  Shadow nervously cleared his throat and decided to raid the fridge, earning a triumphant smirk from Blue.  This was probably only the second or third time that Shadow had been the deer in the headlights because of Blue.

“I saw that, you know,” Blue mocked, drumming his fingers on the benchtop.

Shadow closed the fridge door and turned to his cousin with wide eyes, pointing a finger at him.  “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh please, it’s unbearably painful how obvious your crush is on my brother.”

“Pfft, what crush?  You know I like to tease no matter how uncomfortable I make someone,” Shadow scoffed, laughing sheepishly.

“Really?  That looked more like snuggling him than teasing him, based upon how long you clung to him,” Blue replied, his smirk wider than ever.

“Wh-  I-  Uh, h-how would you know?  You couldn’t see our faces.”

“Don’t underestimate the importance of body language!”

Now it was Vio’s turn to look at Blue quizzically.  “…Did you just quote ‘The Little Mermaid’?”

At that point, Shadow burst out laughing and had to use the bench to hold himself up.  “Oh my god!  The pure fact that you know a Disney movie well enough to quote it!  BAHAHA!”

“…Shut up.  It’s true though!” Blue retorted.

Shadow’s laughing didn’t cease.  “What?  The fact that you still watch kids’ movies?”

Blue growled but refused to give in to Shadow’s antics.  Instead, he forced a smile.  “No, the fact that you totally want Vio to bang you.”

Vio froze in place as well as Shadow, who almost choked on his own saliva. 

“WHAT?!” cried a new and horrified voice.  “Dude, _please_ tell me that you’re joking…!”  Green was standing just outside the kitchen with a disgusted look on his face.

“Relax, Green!  Of course he’s joking!” Shadow reassured his third cousin, giving another sheepish laugh.

Green looked at Shadow as if he were on fire and totally cool with it.  “Good, because not only are you both guys, but you’re _cousins_ , and that is just plain _wrong_ …”

That only caused Blue to snicker.  “It isn’t illegal here though.”

“Ugh, thanks for putting me off breakfast now,” Green groaned. 

“You’re welcome, bro.”

Vio cleared his throat rather loudly and asked Shadow to fetch some plates.  Once four were laid out, the intelligent teen served a small stack onto each.

“Anyone know if Aunt Eleanor is gone yet?” Blue asked.

“Yeah.  Mom left about two hours ago,” Shadow answered.

 _Mom left seventeen years ago…_ the older blonde thought angrily.

 

\---

 

After placing his plate in the dishwasher, Blue headed over to the front door and clutched the handle.

“Heading down to the beach _again_?  Even after what Vio told you?” Shadow asked from the couch.

Blue turned to his cousin with a neutral expression.  “Yeah.  There’s…something I just need to look out for that _isn’t_ my dad.”

Shadow studied his face for several seconds before letting out a melodramatic gasp.  “Are you seeing someone?!”

The older teen recoiled and disgust crossed his face.  “What?  No!  I’m aromantic!  The mere _thought_ of me dating someone makes me want to throw up!”

Shadow wasn’t buying it.  “ _Right_ , because you’re such a ‘ _smooth player_ ’.  You only think you’re an aromantic because you haven’t found that special someone yet.  Believe me, you’ll find them eventually.”

“And since when do I need advice from you?”

The purple-haired teen flopped over the armrest with a hand resting on his forehead.  “Oh, you hurt me!”

Blue’s face darkened.  “Grow up.  I’m not seeing anyone.  There was only this random guy down on the beach yesterday and I just need to make sure he doesn’t come back.”

Shadow smirked.  “Ooh, so it’s a _guy_ then?  I feel ya, buddy.”

“Shut up you little-!”  Blue paused and then it was his turn to smirk.  “So you admit it then?”

Shadow’s cocky expression fell in an instant.

“HA!  I knew it!”

Shadow sighed and got up from the couch, beckoning Blue outside.  Once past the doors, he spoke up.  “Yeah, okay, fine.  I have a crush on Vio, but…it isn’t _just_ a crush…”

Blue tilted his head in confusion.  “It’s…?”

“This is why I brought you outside in case Green hears.  After this morning, it’s official that I’m never telling him.”

“Telling him what?”

Shadow took a deep breath.  “Vio and I are actually dating.”

Blue stood frozen for a moment.  He always figured that it was just the usual bromance, but for it to be an actual _thing_ …  He’d only teased them for payback, but just…wow.  “Well, at least that explains a lot,” he said at last.

The younger teen timidly rubbed his right arm.  “So…are you cool with it?  After what Green said, it’s made me a little anxious, and I just really want someone on my side other than Vio.  I know for a fact that my mom will be livid with me.  Heck, she might even disown me for it, and I’m not even exaggerating.”

“And the first person you come to talk to is me?”

“Vio already knows that I’m scared.  He is too.”

Blue rubbed that back of his head.  “Well, this is kind of awkward…”

“Tell me about it,” Shadow groaned.  “You hate me.  I get it.  But like it or not, we’re still family, and even though I still like to take the mickey out of you, I was just kind of hoping that you’d back me up on this.”

Blue hesitated.  Sure, he was cool with it, but he was just taking some time to process this new information. 

“Besides, you’re his older brother, so I suppose I kind of need your approval,” Shadow said with a small laugh.

“Uh, yeah sure.  I’m fine with it.”

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thanks.  God, I feel like we’re signing a peace treaty to never insult each other again.  Is this like, our first serious talk or heart-to-heart or whatever?”

Blue’s eyes widened.  “It isn’t just that, this is the first time I’m actually getting along with my family for once.”  There was truth in Blue’s words.  Within the span of just one night, he suddenly felt a lot closer to his brothers and cousin…

Without speaking another word, the two teens brought themselves in for a quick hug.

After pulling apart, Shadow chuckled, held up his hand and said, “I hereby decree that I will never insult Blue out of spite ever again.”

Blue joined in with the younger teen’s chuckles.  “Thanks.  Same from me to you.  I…guess I have been kind of a douchebag these past nine years.”

“Ya think?  But then again…so have I,” Shadow added, shrugging.

Blue smiled.  “I suppose this makes us even now, then.”

“You bet.  But seriously, you _have_ to let me know how things go with this guy!”

Blue scoffed and gave his cousin a playful shove.  “Like I said, he’s just a random guy who’s trespassing on private property.  Last I saw him he took a dive, so I don’t know if he’ll be back or not.”

Shadow turned to head back inside.  “Whatever you say, Romeo,” he finished with a smirk.

 

\---

 

Once down on the beach, Blue noticed that the wind had definitely picked up, and judging from the dark clouds in the distance, a storm was approaching, and fast.  However, he’d been out here in worse conditions, so it was no problem for him.  The only question was if the boy from last night was here.  His eyes scanned along the beachline and shallow water, but there was no sign of the stranger.  He then made his way over to the rocks where he first found him; there were plenty of rock pools for a boy to hide if he wanted to.

Using the rough surfacing of the rocks as footholds, he eventually made his way up and onto them.  The first thing he noticed from up there was the rock pool that the boy was occupied with, so he decided to check it out to see if there was anything significant.  After all, he _had_ become quite the avid collector lately.  Placing his feet in the small body of water, it felt unusually warm for a rock pool on an overcast day.  He lowered himself down so he was resting on his knees and plunged his hands into the water to scrounge around for anything that caught his eye.  It was mostly full of the ordinary stuff and a couple of sea snail shells, but other than that, there wasn’t anything special about the pool and he was about to get up and leave, but his gaze settled on just the tiniest shimmer of something that wasn’t a shell snagged on the edge of the pool.  He slowly reached out to pick it off, and once it was settled within the centre of his palm, there was no denying that it was a fish scale.  However, this thing took up half of the space on his palm and was a shimmering red colour. 

“The hell…?” Blue asked himself.  The only large red fish he could think of was a snapper, but even then it didn’t even come close to the size of whatever this belonged to.

The teen ran a finger along the scale’s surface, and it was surprisingly incredibly smooth, almost like silk.  It also held a slight yellow tint to it when tilted in a certain way at the light, which Blue thought was beautiful.  However, it was fragile and wasn’t hard like a reptile’s, so he carefully placed it within one of his smaller pockets and made sure that it wouldn’t break while he moved.  Satisfied with his finding, he stood up from the rock pool and stepped onto a higher vantage point.  Habit made him look back out to sea for several moments, and that was when he caught sight of the boy.  The younger male was sitting on a large cluster of rocks quite a way out in the water, but what Blue noticed next made him feel like he shouldn’t stare at him.

He was completely naked.

Thankfully he was sitting in a position so that Blue couldn’t see anything he shouldn’t, but it still made him question who on Earth this kid was.  If anything, he was just getting weirder by the minute.  He was facing away from Blue and looking out to the storm, and, come to think of it, that was the same direction he looked in before vanishing last night…  Did he know that the storm was coming?

Knowing that the thrashing of the waves would drown out his voice, he picked up a decent sized pebble from one of the rock pools and threw it as hard as he could through the air.  He didn’t care if he hit the boy or not, but either way, it impacted near where the younger was sitting and immediately caught his attention.  After glancing at the area the rock hit and seeing nothing, his gaze trailed to the shoreline and eventually spotted Blue.  The older teen had expected the boy to either disappear back into the ocean just stare coldly at him, but the guy actually threw a _smile_ at him.  Just who did he think he was?!  First he trespassed on a private beach and ran from Blue as if he knew he was doing something wrong, then he gave Blue the creeps and vanished just like that, then appeared back on a distant rock the next day totally nude and _smiled_ at Blue?!  However, after a while, Blue’s original prediction came true and the boy leapt off the rock and dove back into the water.

 _You wanna play this game then?  Fine,_ Blue thought, heading back up the beach with a scowl fixed on his face.

 

\---

 

The angered teenager stormed through the front door and slammed it shut behind him, startling his brothers and cousin who were casually watching the news on TV.

“Wow, you’re back quicker than I-” Shadow began, but was cut off.

“NOT in the mood for talking right now!” Blue spat back, making the purple-haired boy clam up.  He honestly didn’t care about anything else other than figuring out who the hell this kid down at the beach was. 

He thundered up the stairs and made his way into his bedroom where he stripped down completely.  Then, opening up his drawers, he removed a pair of blue swim shorts with a palm tree pattern and slid them up his legs.  He tied the white string at the front to keep them secure and proceeded to carefully extract the red scale he’d found earlier from the pocket of his denim shorts.  After studying it for several seconds, he glanced over at the three long shelves situated on the right side of his room.  On each of them was the mass array of shells, coral, starfish, pearls, and other things he’d found washed ashore.  Reaching up to the bottommost shelf, he lay the scale down directly in the middle between a spotted cowrie shell and a jar of water that contained a hatched shark egg.  He decided that he should see if the boy knew anything about the scale before talking to Vio, but to do that, he’d need to play by the kid’s rules and take a little dip. 

Blue left his room to head into the bathroom and grab a beach towel from one of the cupboards.  Once he did, he slung it around his shoulders and headed back down where he was greeted by several raised eyebrows at the bottom of the stairs.

Shadow raised his hands up before speaking.  “Okay, I know you said you don’t feel like talking, but coming back in after a short period of time while all angry and stuff like someone hit you with a brick, going upstairs for another brief moment without telling us what happened, and then coming back down in your swim shorts does NOT make sense.  At all.”

“Yeah, and I don’t think therapeutic swims exactly fit in with your ‘calm down’ agenda,” Green added.

“So,” Vio continued, “care to let us in on a little something?”

Blue’s already pissed off gaze immediately landed on Shadow.  “You didn’t say anything to them about our conversation before, did you?” he said threateningly. 

“Yep, about how we made up.  Oh, _and_ that you were seeing a…certain someone,” Shadow replied with a smirk.

Blue took a step forward with clenched fists.  Shadow told _both_ of them that he was “seeing” a guy?!  “You son of a-!”

“Whoa, dude, chill!  That’s _all_ I said.  I never mentioned any specifics.”

“Which is totally not fair, by the way,” Green huffed, glaring at his cousin.

Blue took a moment before replying, his anger finally dying down.  “…So you told Vio…?”

Vio nodded.  “Shadow filled me in and then Green, with his brotherly senses tingling, could tell that we were hiding something and wanted in.  So yes, one thing led to another.”

“Wait, so you told Vio about that but not…  I’m really confused,” Blue said.  Why would Shadow even need to tell either of them that Blue was apparently “seeing” someone?

“Uh, yeah, it’s not rocket science.  Shadow said that you were seeing someone but he left out the details.  We’ve been pretty much left in the dark, but clearly things didn’t go so well…I think,” Green clarified.

However, Blue was still a little confused.  Vio seemed to noticed this and pulled him away from Green and Shadow.  Once they were out of earshot, he spoke up.  “Shadow told me everything as soon as you left.  He told you about me and him and then the two of you made up because of it.  He then said that he joked about you seeing another guy down on the beach – don’t worry, I already know that it’s just a trespasser – and then you left to take care of things.  However, while he was telling me this, Green walked in on us.  I’m not gonna lie; we were terrified that he’d heard something we didn’t want him to.”

Everything suddenly clicked in Blue’s mind.  “So you told him that you were just discussing how I was seeing someone.”

“Yes.  And to make it easier, we decided that Shadow was going to be the only one who knew any details.”

Blue nodded in understanding.  “I get it now.”

“I would have asked you if you wanted to take the bullet for us, but obviously I couldn’t.  Also, thank you for…being okay with us.”

Blue smiled warmly.  “No problem, bro.  Besides, I owe you for getting a ship for us to look for dad.”

Vio chuckled.  “Sure thing.  _Bro_.”

“God, Vi!  Don’t use slang; it just sounds weird coming from you,” Shadow said suddenly, walking up to the two of them.

“Where’s Green?” Vio asked urgently. 

“Relax.  He’s taking a piss which is why we don’t have much time.  Quickly Blue, tell us what the heck happened down there,” Shadow replied.

“Uh, right.  Well, you know how I said that he swam off last night?”

The two nodded.

“Well, he did the exact same thing.  He was just…casually sitting on one of the rocks, smirked at me, and then took another dive.  So, I’m gonna play his little game.”  He almost cringed at the thought the popped into his head – the rest of the truth that he swore to never mention.

They heard a toilet flush from above them, so they moved back into the living room.  Vio gave Blue a quick brief about what to say right as Green came clomping back down the stairs.

“We all good?” he asked, leaping from the second-last step.

“Yeah,” Blue said.  “Vio cleared everything up for me.”

“Alright then, spill.”

Blue swallowed a lump in his throat; his pride had better not be damaged after this.  “This, uh, _girl_ , that I’m seeing wanted to go for a swim last-minute, so when I got there she told me that she was heading back to get her bikini.  I just got a little pissed off because of wasted time, okay?”

“Yeesh.  Girls, huh?” Green said with a smile.  “You going back down now or…?”

Blue sighed and looked around.  “Nah.  I might as well chill here for a bit.  Her house is a bit of a walk away.”

“Okay, cool,” Green finished, heading back to the couch to keep watching TV. 

Vio turned to Blue.  “So you’re really not gonna say anything about her?” he said to keep up the act within Green’s earshot.

“Not a chance.  Clearly I already made a mistake by telling Shadow,” Blue retorted, silencing his cousin’s snickering.

“Hey, at least I didn’t give away any details!” Shadow cried back, putting on his infamous puppy face.

“Whatever.  I’m heading out back,” Blue finished, walking away from both of them towards the sliding glass doors that led to the pool.  After closing them behind him, he made his way to one of the cabana-woven chairs and set himself down on the soft cushion that sat there, closing his eyes.

There was no need to go back down to the beach immediately, right?  After all, if the trespasser was there last night _and_ this morning, then he would definitely still be there in twenty minutes or so.  The only thing that he couldn’t get out of his mind was the tail he saw last night.  _I_ have _to have been seeing things.  It was probably just a wave and the moonlight making me think I saw something.  After all, the guy has legs.   I saw them, clear as day,_ he thought.  All he had to do was get close enough to actually talk to the boy and get answers out of him, and he didn’t care what he had to do so he could.  If the kid turned out to be just some weirdo and didn’t know anything about the tail _or_ the scale, then Blue would just have to ask Vio.  Perhaps he, with his extensive knowledge of the ocean, would surely know something.  That then led Blue to another thing: the fact that Vio was dating his cousin.  He could never look at the two the same way anymore, but he still didn’t want to get in between them, and with the homophobic Green living under the same roof, Blue could understand how scared they must have been.  He needed to keep the attention away from them, but he wouldn’t be able to keep up the façade for long.  He could probably just go back down and then say that he didn’t really want her anyway. 

He let out a sigh as his head fell to the side, coming to rest on the back of his hand.  _Why does my life have to be so damned fucked up…?_

 

_\---_

 

Blue jolted awake as he heard the sound of sliding doors and footsteps approaching him.  Dammit, how long had he been asleep?

“Hey, Blue,” Green said, taking a seat in the chair next to his brother.

“Nngh…  How long has it been…?” Blue asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up straight.

“I don’t know, about half an hour maybe?”

Blue sighed.  _Good,_ he thought.  It hadn’t been too long.  “What is it you want?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.  I just wanted to talk I guess.  We haven’t done so in years.”

“Yeah, we haven’t…”  Blue replied, suddenly realising that he’d almost never paid any real attention to his brothers ever since their dad left.

“I’m not keeping your girl waiting, am I?” Green asked with a chuckle.

“Nah, dude.  If she gets pissed off, she gets pissed off.  I don’t think I’m that into her anyway.”  Blue waved his hand in dismissal.

“Yeah, she doesn’t exactly sound like good girlfriend material.”

“What about you?  I think it’s about time you found someone of your own.”

Green let out a sigh.  “I’m just…waiting, I guess.  I want to make sure I find my soulmate.”

Blue scoffed and threw him a disbelieving look.  “You seriously believe in that soulmate crap?”

“Say what you will about it.  I do, and I believe that she’s out there…somewhere…”

Blue let out a breathless laugh and slapped a hand to his forehead.  “God, do you have any idea how cheesy you sound right now?”

“Yeah,” Green laughed back.

Silence endured between the two for a short while as they gazed out at the view of the ocean in front of them.  The wind was beginning to pick up slightly and the dark clouds were rolling in quickly in the distance.  Blue hoped that the coming storm wouldn’t be too serious.

“It feels odd without Aunt Eleanor here, doesn’t it?” Green said.

“It hasn’t even been a full day yet, Green.”

“I know, but still.  Knowing that she’s going to be gone for a week or so…  I guess it’s just kind of nice to have the place to ourselves for once.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”  When Green didn’t say anything else, Blue decided to change the topic.  “It’s kind of funny, actually,” he began.

“What is?” Green questioned, tilting his head.

“I’ve actually been getting along with you guys for the first time in nine years.”

Green paused.  “Yeah, actually, now that you mention it…”

“I mean, I woke up this morning feeling…different.  I think it started from what Vio told me last night…  About dad…”

Green nodded.  “Same.  Don’t get me wrong, I feel just awful knowing that our dad is out there somewhere either alive or dead, but just…  The fact that he didn’t abandon us makes me feel over the moon.  We all owe Vio for getting a boat for us.  I want to find him as much as you do.”

Blue smiled.  “I know, and we _will_ find him.  I promise.”

His brother cast his eyes down at the ground.  “Sounds similar to what you said when he left.”

Blue opened his mouth to reply, but kept quiet.  It was true that he’d told his brothers that their dad would come back, and yet he didn’t.  It was a silent promise that Blue was unable to keep.

“You know how you said you were finally getting along with us?” Green asked all of a sudden.

“Yeah?”

“Well, now that there’s a chance of finding our dad – and also the fact that this is the first time we’ve had no adult supervision – I don’t know, I…  I guess that your big-brother-mode is just finally switching back on,” he finished with a warm smile.


	3. Part One

Blue’s feet once again reached the stinging chill of the ocean.  His toes wriggled about in the mud-like sand as he hesitantly inched forward into the water, watching as the foam coated his feet and ankles.  The wind and waves were really beginning to pick up now; he wasn’t sure how the storm had moved in so quickly.  If he didn’t hurry up, then things would get too dangerous to swim.  Heck, he shouldn’t even have been trying to swim at all with the lack of practice he’d had over the years.  However, he was confident that he had the strength to keep himself afloat, even in the choppy water. 

He was now waist-deep and wading further and further out, soon reaching the point to where he could no longer feel the ground beneath him.  His arms and legs began rotating back and forth like a factory machine as he pushed himself away from the shore, and he took in a deep breath to call out to the boy who was nowhere in sight.

“Alright, you little punk!  You wanted me out here, so here I am.  Now where the hell are you?!” he shouted, turning his body around so he could glance in all directions.  He soon heard a soft splash from behind him, and when he looked to see what it was, the boy had obviously been under the water and had now surfaced.  Once again, his cold expression was fixed on Blue and he kept a moderate distance away from the grumpy teenager.  However, just as Blue was about to swim towards the boy, he stopped himself upon noticing his eyes. 

The younger blonde’s orbs were the most gorgeous shade of cerulean Blue had ever seen. 

It was captivating, to say the least.  They seemed to shimmer like the surface of lagoon water in direct sunlight, and the way he stared back at Blue was like a hopeful child glancing up at their parent for attention.  Where had the cold and emptiness gone?

This enticed the older blonde to proceed with swimming towards him, but the boy held up a wet hand, signalling for him to stop.  That led Blue to notice another thing – the other male’s skin wasn’t the slightest bit wrinkled from the water.

The teenager took a deep breath and spoke up.  “Just…who _are_ you?” he asked.

As expected, the boy said nothing and only tilted his head.

“Look, last night when you were at the rock pool, did you happen to come across any scales?  Like, large red ones?” Blue continued, using his index finger and thumb to indicate the size of the scale he’d found.  He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or concerned at the fact that the boy’s expression turned from neutral to horrified in an instant.  _So he_ does _know something about them…_ he thought.  The kid suddenly looked behind himself in what seemed to be sheer terror, and before Blue could ask anything else, the boy dipped beneath the surface.  “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

If he didn’t get answers from this kid soon, then he would get to the point where –

The teen’s air supply vanished in an instant and an almost unbearable cold washed over his face.  His eyes stung and he couldn’t see anything past the murky blur in front of him.  He felt himself being dragged down by something that had gripped at the back of his waist, and it was only at this point did he realise he was being forced to drown within the ocean’s depths.

Adrenaline took hold of him as he frantically kicked his legs and waved his arms about, trying to shake off his attacker who could have been none other than the boy.  There was obviously something that he was trying to hide, and he was now resorting to drowning Blue to avoid conflict.  The older male would have smirked if he could; the guy was a twig compared to Blue, so if he thought that this would work, then he was surely mistaken.  With all his might, he repeatedly pushed his arms backwards to propel himself back to the surface, but to his shock and horror, the boy was actually overpowering him.  Massively.

Blue began to feel his lungs catch fire as his last breath was quickly running out.  Panic replaced his confidence and he just wanted to scream out for help.  The boy refused to let go and continued to drag Blue down.  However, with one final hard blow with his elbow to what he guessed was his attacker’s stomach, Blue was finally free and he pushed as much as he could to power himself back to the world of air.  His squinting eyes caught sight of the shining surface above, and never had he been so happy to see it.

Blue’s thrashing hands broke the barrier between land and sea and his head soon followed suit.  His mouth opened as wide as possible and sucked in the largest gulp of air in his life, but it wasn’t to last.  Water had invaded his insides and his body instantly reacted by coughing and spluttering it all up.  But once his breathing had regained a steady but exhausted pace, he looked back to shore to see where he was.

He was way past the safety flags.

All around him the waves were getting higher and more violent, and it was at this point that anything floating in the sea would begin to drift out.  Blue’s chance of survival was decreasing as rapidly as his energy, and he was beginning to doubt that he’d make it back with whatever strength he had left.  Even now he was struggling to keep his head above the water.

All of a sudden, the familiar boom of thunder sounded around him and rain began to lightly fall from the sky.  He looked behind to see how much of the storm there was, but the only thing he caught sight of was the rapidly approaching wave that loomed high above him. 

Blue didn’t even have a chance to attempt getting away. 

Within seconds, the wave carried him upwards in its strong currant before crashing down on him, sending him spiralling through the water at dizzying speeds and knocking the air right out of him.  It took him several seconds to reorientate himself, but with his adrenaline rush wasted, getting back to the surface was much slower.  However, he made it anyway and repeated the process from before.  His saltwater coughs were beginning to claw at his throat and the ocean showed no remorse as another huge wave came down on top of him before he could draw in another breath.  His torso felt as if it was being crushed and water constantly kept running up his nostrils as he was turned over and over like clothes in a washing machine.  The currant refused to allow him back up this time, and with the continuous waves being thrown at the shore, he too was being carried viciously along until he was tossed into what he could only imagine was one of the many rocks.  A jarring pain entered his back and a final scream emanated from him, small bubbles rising frantically from his mouth.  The last thing he saw was a long wisp of crimson clouding his vision before everything finally went black.

 

\---

 

The soothing whoosh of the waves sounded once again in Blue’s ears, as did a small, echoing voice calling out to him.  The familiar scent of the ocean filled his nostrils and the cold sand beneath him provided at least some comfort as he lay there on his stomach.

 _Blue…  Blue…_ the voice continued to call.  “Blue…” it said again, suddenly much louder and clearer this time.

The blonde’s eyes shot open in an instant and he sat up with a start, panting heavily as he patted himself and glanced at his surroundings.  _I’m…alive…?_ he asked himself.  _Holy shit…  I AM alive!_   “I’M FUCKING ALIVE!  TAKE THAT, MOTHER-FUCKING NAT-” his shouts of joy were cut short as the agonizing pain in his back returned and he let out a loud groan and a hiss.

“You gashed your back on one of the rocks.  You’re lucky that that’s all you got,” said a voice to his right, making him jump.  “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to patch it up.  I don’t have any medicinal supplies, but hopefully the saltwater helped to heal some of the tissue.  Although, I’m not sure if it caused any infections, either…  But don’t worry.  The gash didn’t hit anything vital.”  The one speaking was none other than the boy from earlier, his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms around his ankles. 

“You…  YOU TRIED TO FUCKING DROWN ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Blue yelled, lunging at the boy before collapsing onto his arms.  The gash in his back and his lack of energy weighed him down more than he wanted.

The boy scooted backwards on the sand, far enough from Blue’s reach.  “Wha – _Drown_ you?  I was trying to save you!  If I had left you near the shoreline, you would have gotten injuries beyond all help!”

Blue looked up with fire in his eyes.  “So you dragged me under the water and _away_ from the safety of the land instead of taking me to it?!  You almost drowned me in the process as well as endanger my chances of survival!”

“Well…  Well I…  I had my reasons…”

Blue scoffed and tried to sit up.  “Oh, you had your ‘ _reasons_ ’?  You had _no_ right to do what you did!  No fucking right!”

The boy sighed.  “Listen, I know that you’re angry and confused, but if you would just let me explain-”

“No, you don’t have to explain _anything_ to me!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back up to my house to get my back treated.  And for god’s sake, get some clothes on before I throw up,” Blue growled.

The boy looked down at himself as if he forgot he wasn’t wearing anything. 

Blue eventually managed to stand up with trembling legs, and so he began his trek back to where the path up the cliff was.  He could hear the boy stand up from behind him as well, but instead of following, his footsteps made their way to the ocean instead.

“Blue?” the younger blonde called.

Blue stopped and growled as he turned around.  The kid was knee-deep in the water and was looking back at him with a warm smile on his face, his eyes sparkling with that same glimmer.  “What?” Blue huffed.

“My name’s Red, by the way.”

 

\---

 

 _Red_.  The word bore itself into the pit of Blue’s mind as he slowly shuffled up the path.  It seemed to fit the boy perfectly and yet the older blonde had no idea why.  It just did.  He also had no clue why on earth Red finally decided to speak to him after “rescuing” him.  Blue couldn’t trust the guy, especially not after what happened.  How did he even know Blue’s name?  The older teenager was sure that he’d never mentioned it out loud to him before.  However, he just couldn’t shake the weird vibe that Red gave off – how could one scrawny teenager last longer underwater as well as swim stronger than Blue?  And what did he know about the scale?  _Dammit, I should have asked him when I had the chance,_ Blue scolded himself.

After several more agonizing minutes of walking, the blonde finally made it back to his house.  He hobbled over to the front door and mustered the little strength he had left to pull the handle.  His legs then finally gave out and he collapsed in the doorway, catching the attention of his startled and incredibly worried-looking brothers.

“Holy shit…” Shadow exclaimed. 

“BLUE!” Green cried, rushing over to his brother immediately. 

Vio and Shadow soon followed after him, kneeling beside the wounded teenager. 

Vio only had to take one look at the gash in Blue’s back before barking out orders.  “Green, help me get him onto the couch; Shadow, run upstairs and grab the med kit as quick as you can!”

“On it!” Shadow replied, dashing up the stairs while the other two blondes hefted Blue to his feet and guided him to the couch.

Blue groaned as he was set down, hissing with pain as Vio began tenderly examining his back.  “How bad does it look?” he asked.

“I don’t even need anything to know that this is infected,” Vio replied.  “How’d this even happen?  Where the hell where you yesterday?!”

“We were worried sick when you didn’t come home!” Green added.

 Blue’s eyes widened.  “Wait, _yesterday_?!  I only went down about a few hours ago!”

Vio moved to look Blue in the eyes.  “Blue, you were gone for hours after the storm rolled in.  We were hoping that you’d maybe gone elsewhere, but when the storm passed and you didn’t get back…”

“We thought you were dead!” Green finished.

Disbelief and confusion adorned Blue’s face as he tried to process this.  He glanced out one of the windows and saw that it was a cloudless day with a bright sun.  How had he not noticed before?

“I got everything!” Shadow announced, running to Vio’s side and passing him the kit.

The purple clad blonde breathed a sigh of relief.  “Good.  Now, let’s get you fixed up.  This may sting a little.”

Blue let out a small laugh.  “After what happened yesterday, a little sting is the least of my worr – GAH!”

“Sorry,” Vio apologized, dabbing a cotton ball along the gash.  Whatever he put on it, it hurt like hell.  “Although, you’re right.  The sting is the least of your worries.  This is gonna need stitches.”

“Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me,” Blue retorted.

“Just tell us what happened to take your mind off it.”

Blue sighed and took a deep breath.  He reminded himself to alter his story slightly since Green was present.  “When I went back down, the girl I was seeing still hadn’t come back yet, so I decided to go ahead and take a dip.  I can’t remember how long I was swimming around for, but it was long enough to get caught up in the storm.”

“Shadow, damp cloth please,” Vio interrupted.  His cousin nodded and did as told.  “Continue, Blue.”

The wounded teen cleared his throat.  “The storm was carrying big-ass waves with it, and I was hit by them before I had to chance to get back to shore.  They threw me around until I smacked into one of the rocks, which is where I got this from.”  He flicked his head at the gash.  “After that I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was back on the beach with…this guy.  He said that he rescued me and we exchanged a few words before we parted ways.  You know the rest.”

“Did this guy tell you his name?” Shadow asked, obviously trying his hardest not to grin like an idiot.

“…No.”  Blue thought it was for the best that Red’s identity remained hidden from his family for the time being.

“Damn…” Green muttered, sitting in the free space next to Blue’s head and crossing his arms.  “I don’t even know how you’re still alive.”

“Oh, believe me, neither do I,” Blue replied.  “Hell, I didn’t even know I was knocked out cold for, uh…  What time is it now?”

“Roughly twenty-four hours passed since you left,” Vio informed.

Blue let out a breath and closed his eyes.

“Seriously, is no one going to address the fact that your shorts managed to stay on?” Shadow said abruptly, making everyone glare at him.  “What?  Just saying.”

“Alright, I’m ready to suture the wound.  Do you want some painkillers before I start?” Vio asked, putting away the medical supplies he already used and no longer needed.

“Yeah, sure.  Thanks,” Blue told him.

Vio ruffled around in the med kit until he found the pills and took one out for his brother.  Blue swallowed it without complaint and waited patiently for it to take effect.

Today was going to be a long day.

 

\---

 

“So…  I’m gonna get a badass scar, right?” Blue asked Vio with a grin.

“Most likely,” Vio replied, not looking up from his book.  “But just promise me you won’t do anything too physical until it heals, okay?”

“Ugh, fine…” Blue groaned, letting his head fall back.

Vio flipped to the next page with a single swift flick of his finger.  “Just be thankful that it wasn’t fatal.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Whatever, bookworm.”  With that, Blue left his brother and headed upstairs for his room, but not before Shadow cut him off.

“Hey, Blue, hold up for a sec!” he cried.

Blue sighed and faced him in the hallway.  “Yes, Shadow?”

“The guy who rescued you…  It was the trespasser, wasn’t it?”

Blue took a moment before replying, biting the inside of his cheek while he fished for an answer.  “Yes, it was.  Now will you leave me alone?”

“Come on, I need more than that!  Where’s the juicy details?  What did he look like?”  His hopeful eyes refused to tear themselves away from Blue, which irritated the older blonde greatly.

 _He better not make me regret this…_ Blue thought.  “Short blonde hair, blue eyes, kind of scrawny.  Happy?”

Shadow leaned back and crossed his arms with a smug grin spreading across his cheeks.  “Nope.”

Blue slammed a palm to his forehead and rubbed it half-heartedly before dropping his arm back to his side.  “Well, what more do you want?”

His cousin leaned forward, raising an eyebrow.  “What did he say to you, and what would you say his age is?”

The older teen scratched the back of his head and casually shrugged.  “Uh, I’d say that he’s maybe around sixteen or seventeen-ish…?  He looked quite young, so I’m not entirely sure.  As for what he said, well –”

“Whoa, hold up!” Shadow interjected, lifting both hands in the air.  “You mean to say that a scrawny teenage dude rescued you?!”

“So what if he did?  He’s a better swimmer than he looks,” Blue huffed, clenching his fists.

The emo punk laughed and rested against the wall.  “Damn, you must really be rusty these days.”

“…Shut up.  Unless you have any more questions, I’ll be heading to my room now.”

Shadow held a finger up.  “Wait, one more.” 

Blue raised an eyebrow at his cousin.  “Mmm?”

The purple-haired teen’s lips curled into a sly smirk and he lowered his voice.  “Was he cute?”

“Oh, fuck off!”  Blue pushed past his cousin and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him.

He rested his back against the door and pressed his fingers to his temples, rubbing them in small circular motions.

After dropping his hands back to his sides, he cast his eyes over at the red scale on the shelf.

 _Red_.

This wasn’t a coincidence, was it…?

Blue shook his head and made his way over to his laptop.  He sat down in the chair at the desk and opened the lid of the silver-coloured hardware, pressing his finger down on the ‘power’ button.  The screen opened up to the rotating circles that indicated it was loading, and after inputting his password once it had finished, his desktop background appeared – a single photo of him, his brothers, and his father, all standing with smiles on their faces in front of an impressive-looking ship.  Blue sighed and moved the mouse down to the taskbar to open up his browser.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard while the cursor blinked in the search bar.  What should he type in?  He wasn’t exactly sure how he would find the fish responsible for the scale.  Maybe Vio would know something?  But was now a good time to ask? 

Blue let out a breath and just decided to see what the internet could help him with.

The first search he tried was, ‘ _Recent ocean fish discoveries_ ’.  While he didn’t see anything that mentioned large red fish, the first link did in fact catch his eye, so he clicked on it anyway.

“New species of Ceratioid anglerfish found in the ‘midnight zone’…  Huh.  Looks like if an elephant seal and a cooked chicken had a baby,” he commented, scoffing at the picture of the rather pathetic-looking anglerfish.  He shook his head with a small laugh and went back to searching.

He next tried, ‘ _List of large red ocean fish_ ’, and clicked on the first link again, leading him to a list of possibly every ocean fish in existence.  At least it had photos.

“Mexican hogfish…  Too small, not even anywhere near here…  Uh, nope…  Nope…  All WAY too small…  Okay, that’s terrifying…” he mumbled, scrolling past the many photos until he reached the bottom.  “Great, nothing.”

He leaned back in his chair and glanced over at the shelf once more.  “…Screw it.”  He stood from the seat and marched up to the scale, gently removing it from its place.  “Let’s see what Vio knows about you.”

 

\---

 

Blue found Vio on the couch reading his book as per usual, but what he hadn’t expected to see was Shadow practically curled up on top him, looking akin to a sleeping baby. 

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Blue asked awkwardly, clutching the scale carefully but firmly in his hand.

“Nope,” came Shadow’s blunt reply despite the content smile on his face.  “Man, you have _no_ idea how great it feels to be able to do this without worrying about you or my mom or Green…”

Blue blinked.  “Wait, I thought Green wasn’t okay with this…?”

“He isn’t,” Vio explained, “nor does he know.  He’s gone out to pick up some groceries.  In the meantime, I finally get to cuddle my boyfriend without being in bed.”

“Ah,” Blue replied simply, shuffling his feet.  It honestly felt so weird to hear the word “boyfriend” come out of Vio’s mouth.

“Was there anything you needed?” the bookworm asked, finally looking up to meet Blue’s eyes.

“Uh, yeah, actually.  You’re the one studying marine biology, so I was hoping you’d know what this belongs to.”  Blue held out his hand and unfurled his fingers to reveal the shining scale in all its lonely glory.

Vio raised his eyebrow and Shadow too looked up now, his interest finally showing through. 

Blue walked over and knelt down so Vio could see without having to move.  The younger blonde gingerly took it from Blue’s palm and turned it over in his fingers, examining it closely.  His ice-blue eyes widened and flicked to meet his brother’s.  “…Where did you find this?”

“It was in one of the rock pools,” Blue answered simply.

“One of the _rock pools_?” Vio questioned.  “But…for a fish of this size…  It’s impossible!  Are you sure that there weren’t any washed ashore?”

“Positive.”

“I mean, it could have perhaps gotten there through the storm, but still…  I don’t recognize this at all.”

Blue let out a defeated sigh.

“So, new species then?” Shadow asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

“I won’t know until I take this to my colleagues.  They might have an idea, and if it isn’t new, then we’ll be able to identify it via our database.  If not, we _need_ to find the fish this came from.  Until then, I’ll need to hang onto this.  You don’t mind, do you?” Vio elaborated.

“I…guess not,” Blue replied.

“Good, and thank you.  I think I’ll pay them a visit later this afternoon.”

“Ooh, can I come?” Shadow pleaded, giving his boyfriend the puppy eyes.

Vio chuckled.  “Sure you can.”

Blue turned to leave.  “Thanks for the help, Vi.”

“No problem.”

 

\---

 

Blue stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression as he lay on his bed.  Vio and Shadow had left for the research lab several minutes ago, and although Green had returned, there wasn’t exactly anything Blue could talk about with him. 

 _Certainly not the fact that his brother and cousin are dating and I’m slowly becoming_ _somewhat friends with a young naked guy_.  He almost laughed at the way he put it.

Why was Red even stripped of clothing in the first place anyway?  Was he a nudist or something?  And how the heck did he even overpower Blue in the water?  There was definitely something off about him, and Blue wondered if he even had a home.  Probably not. 

Should he invite Red in to stay for a bit?  _No, I barely even know the guy, not to mention I’m seriously pissed off with him_. 

Still, everything about Red only made him more curious with each though that passed through his mind.  He wanted to talk to him again.

Blue made up his mind and hefted himself off the bed, wincing a little as the stitches pulled on his back. 

 

\---

 

By the time he got down to the beach (and after making the excuse to Green that he was going beach-combing), the sun was already beginning to lower itself down from the sky, entering the golden hour of the afternoon.  The sand positively glowed under the sun’s rays and the water was threaded with ribbons of alluring amber.

Blue was almost surprised to see Red sitting out on the edge of the dock, simply watching the day gradually fade with his arms over his lap.  The boy’s gently flowing locks were highlighted beautifully in the setting light – if it had been illuminated any more, Blue would have sworn that Red’s hair had come from the sun itself.

Blue let out a breath and approached the younger blonde slowly so as not to startle him – he wanted to get this over with so he never had to see or talk to Red again.  He opened his mouth to speak, but Red beat him to it.

“How’s your back?” he asked, not turning to look at Blue as he came to stand beside him.

“Stitched up,” Blue replied bluntly.

“…That’s good.”

They had only exchanged a few sentences and Blue was already starting to get irritated with this small talk.  He had questions to ask, dammit! 

He let out an annoyed huff and got straight to the point.  “Listen, you’d better have some answers for me because I’ve been getting fed up with this little act of yours.”

Red sighed.  “I figured that’s why you came down here.”

“Yep.  So answer, and be straight with me.  How in the hell are you a stronger swimmer than me, why do you have no clothes, and why have you suddenly been popping up these past few days and creeping me the hell out?!”  He folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for the boy’s response.

It took a few seconds for Red to finally look up at him and smile sweetly.  “Swim with me?”

NOW Blue was getting infuriated.  He had come down here for answers SPECIFICALLY and now Red expected Blue to swim with him even though the last time he did was in a STORM?!  “Hell no!  Now fucking answer me or I swear to god I’ll –!”

The younger blonde slid off the edge and disappeared beneath the water.

Blue was on the verge of ripping his hair out.

Completely forgetting that swimming was the last on his agenda, with gritted teeth and clenched fists he threw his shirt off and dove into the water, his only goal being to get to Red and strangle the life out of him.  However, he’d forgotten to take a breath in his rage-fuelled dive, so he turned his body to the surface and swam up to breathe.

At least, he would have if his legs moved correctly. 

His legs refused to propel him, and with every passing moment they felt heavier and heavier, right up to the point where they felt like they were bound in a tight metal cast.  His arms flailed uselessly in the water and his breath was running out rapidly; he wasn’t even being dragged down nor thrown about by waves and yet he still managed to be the world’s worst swimmer.

However, Blue’s gaze fell upon Red as he swam into view, and he stopped struggling altogether.  He couldn’t even focus on the boy’s gentle smile as he came to wrap his arms around Blue’s waist and lift him back to the surface – the only thing that Blue saw in that moment was the large crimson fan that swept up and down in the water behind Red, pushing his scaled lower body forwards with the strength of a dolphin.

It wasn’t until Blue felt the cold air meet his face did he come back to his senses, wondering if he’d just been hallucinating on his short breath. 

His eyes widened and he pushed away from Red, only to struggle once again as he attempted to keep himself afloat.

“Don’t panic, Blue, it’s okay.  It does take a bit of getting used to,” Red said, still smiling, albeit a tad more apologetically now.

“What the hell do you mean?!  Getting used to what?!  WHY CAN’T I SWIM?!” Blue yelled hopelessly, earning a giggle from Red.

“Look down, silly.”

Blue hesitated, raising an eyebrow at the boy before sucking in a breath and plunging his head beneath the water.  His eyes widened as he stared down at himself, shocked disbelief crossing his face. 

_Holy shit…_


	4. Part One

Blue was at a loss of words.  Nothing could describe what had happened to him, nor did he even know how to explain it.  All he could do was just stare at the dolphin tail that was in place of his legs, incredibly sleek-looking with its two-toned cyan and cobalt pattern that faintly reminded him of a commerson’s dolphin.

It was then that he caught sight of Red’s tail again; he hadn’t been hallucinating before.

If anything, Red’s tail made Blue’s look like a moth next to a butterfly.  Both the tail and dorsal fin had several different shades of red streaking through them, and the tattered edges were incredibly coral-like.  His glittering scales were decorated with several light yellow splotches on top of the crimson, and six tendril-like appendages of the same colour were strewn along the bottom of the tail – three on either side – and more were set within the tail fin.

Blue pulled his head back up and opened his mouth to speak.  “I – this is – no, there’s no fucking way that this is real…” he stuttered, holding a hand to his forehead. 

Red giggled.  “Don’t worry; I had pretty much the same reaction when I first turned.”

Blue looked at him with both confusion and panic evident in his eyes.  “So…so we’re…”

“Mermen, yes,” Red finished for him.  There were a few moments of silence as Blue took the information in until Red broke his train of thought.  “You might want to take your shorts off now, by the way.”

Blue blinked and looked down.  His tail was stuck through one of the legs and it didn’t exactly feel comfortable like that.  “Ah, right.”  He managed to shimmy out of them (the fins didn’t exactly help) and he rolled them up into a ball so he could toss them onto the dock.  Once he looked back at Red, realization dawned upon him.  “Ohhh…  Okay, _now_ I get why you never wear anything.”  

A small laugh escaped Red’s lips.  “Yes.  I’d quickly discovered that clothes got annoying each time I changed.”

However, Blue’s eyebrows only furrowed – something about that felt off.  It made sense for Red to not bother covering up if he was switching back and forth between legs and a tail so much, but… 

Why did he even have to change so often in the first place?  Where was his home?  His family…?

“Hey, um…” Red began, rubbing his arm nervously and giving a sheepish laugh.  “I have a bit of a confession to make: I’ve actually been watching you for…quite a while now…”

Blue recoiled and moved backwards in the water a few inches, a scowl appearing on his face.  “Wait, you’ve been _spying_ on me?  For how long?!” he yelled, making Red flinch.  That clearly wasn’t the reaction he’d expected from Blue.  Still though, Blue’s quiet sessions of standing on the beach were private!  They were the only times Blue could feel at ease without having to be around people, but knowing that someone was watching him the whole time made him feel like he could have no god dammed time to himself!

“I-I’m sorry, I just…” the boy stuttered, letting out a sad sigh and averting his gaze. 

Blue waited for him to continue, but nothing came out.  “Just what?” he spat.

Red remained silent, but he failed to hold back a sniff.

Blue immediately eased his tension and relaxed his face.  Ever since looking after his brothers when they were younger, spotting the first sign of soon-to-be tears was now second nature for him.  Perhaps he _had_ been a little harsh to the guy.  “…Red,” he began sternly.

The younger blonde finally looked back up at him, pools of water filling his eyes and streaming down his cheeks.

“Are you…homeless…?”

It was at that point that Red finally broke down and burst into tears, suddenly launching himself onto Blue and burying his face into the older blonde’s shoulder. 

“It’s so much worse than that…” Red sobbed.

“Hey, it’s alright…” Blue reassured, wrapping his arms about the boy’s trembling body.  All his previous thoughts about him had vanished, and he finally understood why Red was around so much.

“I wish it was…” Red replied.

 

\---

 

After Red’s crying had ceased, Blue let out a breath and decided to change the subject.  “Do you know _how_ we’re…you know, mermen?”

Red nodded, wiping his face with the seawater to rid himself of the tears.  “The storm.  I don’t know why, but the ones that always hit this coast are…special.”  He paused to take in a breath.  “Those who drown in them become water spirits…  Merfolk.”

Blue could only wonder how Red had figured this all out.  How long had he even _been_ a merman?  “So you get turned by storms that hit this coast…  I’ll admit, I’m having a hard time believing this, but I do have a tail floating below me, so I’m just about ready to believe anything.  But, wait…  Since when did that happen to _you_?”

Red’s expression became shocked.  “Wow, you’re…taking this better than I expected…  Um,” he began.

Blue held up a hand.  “Wait, what do you mean?”

Red blinked at him in disbelief.  “Blue, did you completely miss the part where I said that the people who become merfolk _drown_ in the storm?!”

“Of course I – _they fucking_ _what_?!” Blue snapped.

Red sighed.  “When you hit your back on the rock and ran out of breath because of it…  You died, Blue.  Why do you think I dragged you ashore later?  I knew you weren’t going to stay dead.”

Blue was rendered speechless.  He was _dead_ for a full TWENTY-FOUR HOURS and Red didn’t even TELL him when he woke up?!  “WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT WHEN I CAME TO?!” he yelled.

“You didn’t let me earlier, remember?  That whole ‘You don’t need to explain anything to me’ thing?”

Blue slowly closed his open mouth and felt like a total jerk.  To stop himself from acting like a bigger one plus an idiot, he reverted back to his original question.  “Yeah, okay, fine.  Whatever.  What I still want to know is how long you’ve been a merman.”

Red paused to take a deep breath.  “Do you know how old I am, Blue?”

Dammit, why did he always have answer questions with questions?!  “How should I fucking know?”

Red’s expression remained stoic.  “I’m sixteen…”

“Yeah?  Well _good for you_.  I’m nineteen.  Big deal,” he growled.

“… and I died and became a merman in 1982.” 

He died _when_?!  But how was that even possible?

Red lowered his voice.  “Do you have the dots connected now…?  I’ve been sixteen for over thirty years…”

“But then…  That would mean…” Blue began, fearful of finishing his own sentence.  If what he thought about Red was correct, then Blue was now in the same boat.

The younger blonde nodded.  “We’re immortal.  We don’t age.”

Blue’s breath quickened as he began to panic and he gripped his hair.  “No, no, no, no, no, NO!”  This was so FUCKING bad!  If he no longer aged, then his brothers would be the first to notice, and what then?  He wouldn’t be able to go out or he would start raising questions!  WHAT THE HELL WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO?!

“Blue, I’m so, _so_ sorry…” Red apologized.

“Well SORRY isn’t going to change me back!  It’s alright for you: you’re used to it!  I’ve gotta look after my fucking brothers, but what happens when I can’t do that anymore?!  My life is officially _done_ , and the only thing I can do now is–!”  Blue stopped himself, his thoughts interrupting him to make him focus on something Red had said earlier.  “…Wait…  You…you said that you knew I wasn’t going to stay dead, right?  Then that means that you _also_ knew that the storm was going to change me!”

Red frantically looked left and right and started to back up.

“YOU WANTED ME TO TURN, DIDN’T YOU?!  THAT’S WHY YOU PULLED ME FURTHER OUT!  THAT WAS YOUR ‘REASON’, WASN’T IT?!”

Red’s voice was shaky as he tried to calm Blue down.  “Okay, okay, let’s not g-get ahead of ourselves, alright?  I c-can exp-plain…”

However, Blue’s face was twisted into a vicious snarl.  How DARE Red do that to him?!  His life was fucking RUINED now, and that little brat was going to pay! 

He lunged for Red with outstretched arms, but the boy dove beneath the surface before Blue could grip his throat.

 _Ugh, dammit!_   Blue copied Red and launched under the water himself and caught sight of the younger merman making a mad dash to get away from him.  _Get back here, you son of a bitch!_ Blue called out in his mind.

However, his first attempts at pursing Red failed miserably – his movements were far too restricted to his liking, and the more time he spent trying to work his head around how to move his tail, the bigger Red’s head start was.  He gritted his teeth and would have growled had he not been underwater, but soon enough, he finally managed to push himself forward. 

He used his arms to start a rhythm for his body, which moved up and down like a wave.  The motion was then sent down to his tail, and to his glee, it practically started moving on his own. 

Blue grinned as his tail suddenly powered him through the water the faster he moved it, and he found that it wasn’t much different to just moving both legs at the same time.

He wondered if having a muscular build was somehow involved with getting a dolphin’s tail.  Still, he felt like he could do this for days and not get tired.

He soon once again caught sight of the familiar shape of Red still frantically swimming for his life in the distance.  _Ah, finally.  There’s the fucker._ Keeping his gaze focused on the younger teen, he almost laughed at how much faster he was, seeing how Red was rapidly getting closer and closer.  The younger blonde looked back and let out a muffled squeal upon catching sight of Blue, sending a fountain of wobbling bubbles up to the surface.  His head whipped back to the front and he dipped down suddenly, making Blue just miss him as his outstretched arms were about to grab the crimson merman. 

However, Blue knew that dolphins were capable of incredibly swift and agile swimming, so within seconds he was back on top of Red, and before either of them knew it, the short chase was over.  Blue darted forward and gripped Red’s wrist, bringing them to a simple but fast glide in the water.  The older blonde pulled Red around so he could face him, and that was when both of Blue’s hands shot to Red’s throat.

 _Wait a sec…_ Blue thought, and he suddenly felt like the dumbest idiot to exist.  Squeezing Red’s throat would do nothing but bruise it; neither of them could breathe underwater, and so Red wouldn’t be able to inhale either way, and it would most likely take ages for Red to run out of oxygen.

While Red writhed beneath him with a pained expression, it dawned on Blue of what he could possibly do to the boy.  Since he couldn’t make Red temporarily suffocate, the only way he could think of hurting him was to beat him with his own fists – or maybe even bash him against the rocks.

But no sooner did the thought cross his mind, he suddenly realized how wrong that would be.  Red was younger than Blue, not to mention so much weaker and more vulnerable as well, and a sting of guilt stabbed Blue in the chest as he looked at Red’s desperate and pleading eyes, begging him to stop.  In fact, the more he thought about inflicting wounds upon the boy, the more he realized that it just wasn’t like him to do that.  He may have had one of the world’s worst tempers, but he wasn’t one to physically take his anger out on others, and he certainly wasn’t about to become a monster by beating a kind-hearted, defenceless kid who did almost nothing wrong into a bloody pulp.  Whether he liked it or not, Red was still a person, and as he looked deeper and deeper into those terrified eyes, there was probably more to Red than Blue anticipated.

The older blonde scowled, still gripping Red’s throat, and dragged the other merman to the surface.

 

\---

 

They weren’t too far out, and they were pretty close to some of the rocks, so before Red could even attempt to come up for air, Blue pulled him over until they were near enough so he could literally lift Red up and toss him onto the hard surface – although, Blue couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the thud that sounded from Red’s landing, which only added to Blue’s guilt.

The younger merman let out a yelp of pain, and he could only release a few sobs before Blue was on him again, one hand flying up to grip Red’s chin and the other to pull at his hair.

Red immediately began crying shouts of plea.  “Blue, p-please!  I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean for this to happen – j-just please don’t hurt me!” he wailed, tears streaming down his face.

“Oh yeah?!  Then tell me why the fuck you did this to me!” Blue yelled, not bothering to care that both of their tails were reverting back to legs.

Red let out a few loud sobs and there was a clear waver in his throat as he breathed.  He was trembling horribly and his eyes were full of water as he cried, refusing to meet Blue’s angry gaze.

 _He’s afraid of me_.  Blue almost wanted to slam his fist down on the rock beside Red’s head – why did the boy have to make him feel so fucking guilty all of a sudden?!  What if Red had a perfectly good explanation for all this?  It’d make Blue look like the biggest fucking jerk of all time! 

Red finally managed to look Blue in the eye.  “Yes, I did want you to turn…  It was stupid and selfish of me, I know, but…I…I was lonely…” he choked.  “You have no idea how much it hurts to wake up each morning and know that you have no one to wake up to…  I mean, can you imagine being alone in the ocean for thirty years…?”

Blue loosened his grip and his scowl faded.  “No…  No I can’t…”

Red sniffed.  “Exactly.”  He hesitated before asking Blue if he could sit up.

Blue moved off of Red and fought back a fierce blush, finally remembering that both of them were now totally naked.  It took every last ounce of Blue’s self-control to keep his line of sight above Red’s waist.

Red winced and hissed as he slowly sat upright, and Blue’s guilt returned upon seeing the grazes and the large bruise beginning to form on the younger blonde’s back.  He looked back towards the cliff, head tilted up at Blue’s house.  “…I used to live there.”

Blue’s jaw dropped.  “You _what_?!”

Red nodded.  “I’d lived in it for my whole life.  Well, before I died, anyway.  I had a mom, a dad, and a big sister.  My parents had it built years before my sister and I were born.”

“Damn…” Blue commented.

“Yeah.  And then after a happy sixteen years, that one fateful day came by.  The storm rolled in so fast…  My sister and I were down playing on the beach, but before we could head up the cliff, the waves just came down on us like they were anvils.  It was so long ago, so I don’t remember much, but…the next time I woke up, I was lying on the couch in my living room.  My sister had brought me up after the storm, but she and my parents told me that I was dead a few seconds ago…  That’s how I know that you and I drowned.”

_I guess that explains it…_

“My sister refused to go back down on the beach with me after that.  My first time turning was when I decided to go for a swim, and I panicked at first.  I didn’t know what to do until I realized what was going on, and I actually started to enjoy swimming around as a merman.”

“But…?” Blue asked, knowing that there was a catch to this.

Red sighed.  “ _But_ , I wasn’t sure whether or not to tell my family.  I decided against it knowing that they wouldn’t believe me, and even if I proved it to them, I didn’t want them to freak out.  So, I kept it to myself.

“Swimming with a tail eventually became addicting, right up to the point where I snuck out on some nights just to do so.  It was like that for a couple of years, and that was when I started to notice that I wasn’t growing…  I didn’t freak out about it until my parents brought it up, and so I…  I…”  He looked down as tears once again welled up in his eyes and he couldn’t seem to finish his sentence.

“You…what?” Blue asked, leaning forward slightly.

Red looked back up at him, wearing the same heartbroken expression from before.  “Blue, I had to leave my family…!  I left them during the night and didn’t even leave a note or anything; I just took off and swam out to sea…  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was actually enjoyable for a while, but then time caught up with me and I realized just how lonesome my life was.  I wanted to go back but I knew that I couldn’t.  I counted the years that passed, and after thirty of them, I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I just wanted someone to talk to again – I wanted to see my family again!  So after a while I finally made my way back to my home, but everything was different.  The house looked different, the beach formation had changed a little…  It wasn’t until I first saw you walking down the cliff path did I realize that my family was long gone.  They didn’t live here anymore, and I was about swim off again, but then…”  He paused and brought a hand up to the corner of his mouth and avoided all eye contact with Blue, who could have sworn that Red’s cheeks were turning pink.  Why was he getting so shy all of a sudden?  “…I saw you head down to the beach and then you just…stood there.  I don’t know why, but you just sparked my curiosity, yet I was too nervous and afraid to approach you…  I’d spent thirty years without any human interaction, so I had no idea what to do.”

“So you just watched me instead,” Blue finished.

Red nodded and looked at Blue again.  “Yes.  I got less and less cautious too, soon actually coming up onto the beach to have a look around and get used to my legs again.  And then, one night, you finally saw me.  You know the rest.”

“Shit…  I had no idea…”  Yep.  Blue certainly felt like a total jerk now.  Red _did_ have a good explanation.

“I know that you were angry with me that night you first saw me, but…”  He paused to let out a small giggle, and the smile that followed made Blue’s heart skip a beat.  “I was actually super excited afterwards.  In a way, it encouraged me to keep popping up every now and then, and finally, yesterday I was going to let you get close enough, but I saw the storm coming in beforehand and…I’ll admit that right then I had the most selfish thoughts of my whole life.  When you eventually came back down and entered the water, I had it all planned out.  I was…”  He hesitated before continuing, looking through his tears and examining Blue’s expression for a brief moment.  “…I was going to drag you under and try to drown you in the storm.”

Blue fought back the rising anger and wrenched his eyes shut, trying to remind himself to listen to Red from now on before lashing out.

“But I was telling the truth earlier about not wanting you to hurt yourself on the rocks, honest!”

“It’s okay, I believe you,” Blue reassured, holding a single hand up.

“It’s just…  When the storm started rolling in, I desperately wanted someone I could be a merman with, and since I’d grown so attached to you…  I didn’t want to be alone, but like I said before, it was so stupidly selfish of me…and I’m so, so sorry, Blue…”

By now, Blue wasn’t sure whether to be mad at Red or sympathize with him.  However, his ever-growing guilt won him over.  He was the first and only person that Red had talked to in thirty years, and since he too was a victim of loneliness, he couldn’t ignore how the boy was feeling.

“If it makes you feel any better, you at least get to spend a lot more time with your family than I could…  I was only sixteen, I was still growing, but you’re practically an adult now.  People won’t think twice about your lack of physical change for years to come,” Red elaborated.

“True,” Blue replied, sighing.  Several moments of silence passed before he finally made his decision on the relationship between the two of them.  “Yeah, okay, I get it now.  I should have listened to you before, so I’m sorry as well.  Especially for hurting you like that…”  He motioned to the injuries on Red’s back.  “…I know what loneliness can feel like too.”

“Your dad?” Red asked quietly.

Blue nodded.  “So you overheard me and my brother, huh?”

“Yeah…”

An awkward silence once again passed between them, the sun at its last few minutes on the horizon before it disappeared for the day.  Blue got up and dove into the water without a word, and when he rose again, he turned back to Red who looked unsure if he should follow or not.

“Well,” Blue began, “since I’m stuck like this for the rest of my life now, I might as well get used to it, so do you wanna take me for a swim tomorrow?” he finished, smiling warmly up at Red who returned the biggest grin Blue had ever seen on him.

“Yes please!” Red cried, leaping from the rock and splashing into the water.  The younger merman came crashing back up to the surface, showering Blue with water before tightly wrapping his arms around Blue’s neck.  “Thank you so much!”

Blue cleared his throat awkwardly.  “You’re, uh, welcome, Red,” he spoke, slowly returning the hug.

When Red pulled back, he rubbed his arm and opened his mouth to speak.  “Hey, um, quick question.  What did you do with my scale exactly?” he asked, tilting his head.

Blue was slightly caught off guard with the topic change.  “I gave it to my brother so he could try and identify it.  It’s down at his lab or something.  Wherever he does his research with his colleagues.  Why?” Blue replied.

“ _Blue_!” the younger merman screeched, panic spreading across his face.  “Are you serious?!  A _merman’s_ scale is in the hands of _marine biologists_?!  This is exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid for _years_!  Oh, this is so bad…!”

Realization slapped Blue across the face like a pissed-off ex-girlfriend.

“Blue, if this goes public…!”

“There’ll be masses of fisherman with their hooks out and divers with the latest surveying gear at the ready.  I know.”

“…What’re we going to do?”

Blue paused, tilting his gaze upwards as he watched seagulls passing overhead.  If he couldn’t get the scale back before Vio and his team studied it, then things weren’t about so look so good.  Hell, it might’ve already been too late.

“…I don’t know.”

 


End file.
